Medicinal herb garden! That’s so cool. What kind of stuff do you grow there, and what do you use it for? I don’t live in the US, so perhaps you’re able to grow quite different things than I would, but I can’t think of many things I could grow that would be medicinally useful
I am only just getting into medicinal gardening, but my impression thus far is that there are basically two kinds of plants in this category: “normal” garden plants that happen to have medicinal properties but are usually grown for other reasons (basically all herbs, like sage, parsley, lavender, etc, as well as plants often grown for ornamental purposes, like calendula and yarrow), and “unusual” garden plants that are rare in standard gardens and are typically grown specifically for their medicinal properties (such as stinging nettle, mugwort, ashwagandha, tulsi, arnica, etc).
You would be really surprised at how many plants have medicinal properties! Even plants like strawberry and raspberry: their leaves make great tea for easing menstrual symptoms. But like all medications you have to be careful about allergies, side effects, and drug interactions. For that reason, I’d highly recommend searching for a book or reputable website that goes into the topic at length (I’m just starting out so I don’t have any offhand to recommend, sorry). “Medicinal gardening” or “garden pharmacy” are two search terms to get you started.
All over the world, humans have been growing and foraging plants for their medicinal properties for thousands of years (in fact, even other animals have been observed intentionally seeking out medicinal plants to treat specific ailments!) so there is certain to be a local culture for medical plants in your area. Unfortunately with modern medicine a lot of this knowledge has been lost/forgotten, but it’s being unearthed and reexamined all the time (for example: urtication with stinging nettle for arthritis).
Medicinal herb garden! That’s so cool. What kind of stuff do you grow there, and what do you use it for? I don’t live in the US, so perhaps you’re able to grow quite different things than I would, but I can’t think of many things I could grow that would be medicinally useful
I am only just getting into medicinal gardening, but my impression thus far is that there are basically two kinds of plants in this category: “normal” garden plants that happen to have medicinal properties but are usually grown for other reasons (basically all herbs, like sage, parsley, lavender, etc, as well as plants often grown for ornamental purposes, like calendula and yarrow), and “unusual” garden plants that are rare in standard gardens and are typically grown specifically for their medicinal properties (such as stinging nettle, mugwort, ashwagandha, tulsi, arnica, etc).
You would be really surprised at how many plants have medicinal properties! Even plants like strawberry and raspberry: their leaves make great tea for easing menstrual symptoms. But like all medications you have to be careful about allergies, side effects, and drug interactions. For that reason, I’d highly recommend searching for a book or reputable website that goes into the topic at length (I’m just starting out so I don’t have any offhand to recommend, sorry). “Medicinal gardening” or “garden pharmacy” are two search terms to get you started.
All over the world, humans have been growing and foraging plants for their medicinal properties for thousands of years (in fact, even other animals have been observed intentionally seeking out medicinal plants to treat specific ailments!) so there is certain to be a local culture for medical plants in your area. Unfortunately with modern medicine a lot of this knowledge has been lost/forgotten, but it’s being unearthed and reexamined all the time (for example: urtication with stinging nettle for arthritis).